Free as a business model for online media companies

[mandy]

After spending millions of dollars over the past decade fighting the free exchange of their products over the Internet, some media companies are now yielding.

The best way to get something in return, they are deciding, may be to accept that consumers want to play but few seem to want to pay. If enough of them join the game, there can still be a payback -- either from consumers themselves or, increasingly, from advertisers.

"Free is the new paid," said Kenneth Parks, chief operating officer of Brilliant Technologies, which is developing a service called Qtrax, which will provide free music -- legally -- to Internet users...

full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/ZODw...rnet.xhtml